Every single day, millions of people wake up craving the sweet, bitter taste of coffee. For many people, coffee brings them a sense of dopamine, and for others, coffee is a substance that is a need to help them get through the day. Coffee is so delicious that it can be addicting. There are many advantages and disadvantages of coffee, specifically black coffee.  

For starters, coffee decreases your mortality rate. Studies have shown that people who drink 2-3 cups of coffee are less likely to die a premature death than those who aren’t drinking coffee. If I get to live longer by only having to drink a cup of coffee, then sign me up. 

If you love working out or just enjoy moving your body and you always take a pre-workout supplement before you start exercising, you might want to switch to coffee. If you consume a cup of coffee before you start your workout, it will boost your performance by around 11-12%. When you drink coffee, your adrenaline levels strike up and start preparing you to get into action. So, the next time you want to go ahead and get a cardio set in, be sure to drink a cup of coffee an hour before you start your movement to get the most effective workout of your life. 

Drinking coffee can also help protect against heart disease and improve heart health. In 2018, researchers concluded that people who drink three to five cups of coffee per day were 15% less likely to develop heart disease.  

There are so many advantages to drinking coffee that you might be thinking that nothing can go wrong, but sadly it can. Everything in this world that has advantages also has disadvantages. Drinking coffee helps with many health problems, but if you drink too much coffee, it can be damaging to your health.  

Coffee is known to increase alertness, but drinking too much of it can lead to anxiety and nervousness. There was a study performed that 25 healthy men were given 300mg of caffeine, and they experienced double the stress than the men who were given a regular intake of caffeine. Be sure not to drink more than you are supposed to, so that way you don’t have anxiety throughout the day.  

If you are one of those people who have trouble sleeping at night, don’t drink coffee because if you ingest too much caffeine you will have difficulty sleeping through the night. It will take you double the work to try to get to sleep than if you didn’t have a cup of coffee. 

The last disadvantage about drinking an excessive amount of caffeine is that although it doesn’t increase the risk of heart disease, it does increase blood pressure because of the effects it has on the nervous system. High blood pressure is a risk for a heart attack and stroke. So, the next time you think about drinking double the amount of coffee than you usually do, think about the effects it might have on your blood pressure. 

Overall, coffee is a good thing for us as long as the correct amount is consumed. Coffee should be taken in moderation and not become addictive. So go out and enjoy your cup of iced or hot coffee but make sure you are not over-doing it.